Opinions on Capital Required 



21 



and two horses, to properly handle two acres, I esti- 

 mate that there would be needed about $5,000, six men 

 and three horses for ten acres, and that $20,000, forty 

 men and twenty horses would be sufflcient for one 

 hundred acres. 



These estimates of Henderson and Rawson apply to 

 the most intensive market -gardening near the large 

 cities. Hotbeds and manures are very large items. 

 Farther away from the cities, on cheaper land and in 

 the growing of general -purpose and general -season 

 crops, much less capital is required. Even in the 

 neighborhood of large cities, one may often start on a 

 much more modest scale if he is content to work up 

 slowly. Quinn remarks* that he knows personally a 

 large number of well-to-do market -gardeners — men 

 now worth from ten to forty thousand dollars each — 

 none of whom had five hundred dollars to begin with. 

 Industrious, hard-working men, these, who at first 

 turned every available dollar into manure and reliable 

 seeds. Greiner writes t that ^hnuch can be done on a 

 very few acres of land. If land is plentiful and cheap, 

 he may have a suf&ciency to support horse and cow. 

 Otherwise five acres would be enough for a start. The 

 capital should be sufficient to pay for the place and the 

 implements and equipment needed. Among the latter is 

 a small forcing -pit, or greenhouse, and a number of hot- 

 bed sashes. Outside the place and horse, $400 or $500 

 might answer for a small beginning. There is no need 

 of going beyond the reach of one's available capital. 



Money in the Garden, 21. 

 tThe Young Market-Grardener, 9. 



